Fallout 76 isn’t traditional Fallout, but nor is it leaving the past behind

Up until very recently, for me at least, the biggest challenge standing in the way of unbounded excitement regarding Fallout 76 came down to the answering of a single question: Just what the hell even is Fallout 76? Until Quakecon 2018, Fallout 76 had been a game defined by isolated, back-of-the-box bullet points without any real, coherent shape. We knew that it was a new Fallout. We knew that it was four-times bigger than Fallout 4. We knew that it was online, but was not an MMO. We knew that it would tell the story of the early Vault survivors venturing into the Wasteland for the first time, but that there would be no human NPCs, and that the game would take a different approach to storytelling. The specific, building block components of Fallout 76 were detailed early on. What was missing was the less glamorous but highly important design cement that would hold them all together as a cohesive experience. As such, that main question propagated a great deal more questions. Is there actually a narrative? Is this just a dynamic survival game with a Fallout skin? How the hell does VATS work in multiplayer? Aren’t PvP trolls going to ruin the role-playing experience? It’s been a confusing time. I’ve always liked the idea of 76. At the root of its appeal, a multiplayer Fallout game (ie. one that amplifies the brilliant, emergent weirdness that defines all of the series’ best moments, by adding other people) is something I… [Read full story]